Ever since my family immigrated to Canada, I’ve been trying to find the perfect balance between Russian, the language of my family, and English, the language of my new home.
When I was young, I us…
No matter where I go, I see media reflecting a society that centers on whiteness, no matter how “inclusive” they claim to be.
Growing up, I was filled with a silent frustration towards almost every…
This article discusses sexual assault and may be triggering for some readers. The Kingston Sexual Assault Centre’s 24-hour crisis and support phone line can be reached at 613-544-6424 / 1-800-544-6…
This article discusses disordered eating and may be triggering for some readers. The Canadian Mental Health Association Crisis Line can be reached at 1-800-875-6213.
The way I look was one of the o…
In April of 2019, I moved back to Prince Edward County for the final time.
That summer, I settled into the spare bedroom of my aunt’s apartment, which was filled with nothing but a mattress on t…
This article discusses sexual assault and may be triggering for some readers. The Kingston Sexual Assault Centre’s 24-hour crisis and support phone line can be reached at 613-544-6424 / 1-800-544-6…
I spent my childhood waiting for the world to end.
The idea that some big event could happen at any time and change my entire life was always in the back of my mind—and I had no say in the matter….
I experience an enormous amount of pressure to perform my queerness to the perfect rhythm.
If I’m a little offbeat, I risk coming off as disinterested in someone I like. If I forget a step, someone…
This article discusses eating disorders and may be triggering for some readers. The Canadian Mental Health Association Crisis Line can be reached at 1-800-875-6213.
Part of my self-worth has alwa…
Back in twelfth grade, I wrote a panicked journal entry beginning with the line, “I don’t think I’m a girl.”
It’s difficult to question something you’ve accepted as a straightforward truth all your…
Overthinking has absorbed my university life. I find myself bound by standards for and perceptions of myself—and sometimes it goes overboard.
I refer to my overthinking as an “analysis curse.” I …
On my first day at Queen’s, I drove to Kingston with my parents in a U-Haul, unloaded my things on my floor in Gordon Brockington Hall, and understood what it meant to be an outsider in Canada.
Sit…
It’s been exactly one year and one month since I slurped on a bowl of authentic Taiwanese beef noodle soup. One year and one month since I’ve seen my parents, not through a small black screen, but …
During my second year at Queen’s, I worried I might flunk out.
Lectures were grueling tests of endurance and narrowing my thoughts enough to focus on my professors felt impossible. Worst of all, I …
I never understood why women of colour are so underrepresented in Canadian politics.
I’ve read textbooks with chapters on intersectionality and barriers to political engagement, and I’ve heard fema…
I never expected to be involved in social justice and advocacy.
I’m a first-generation Canadian born in a major city. I was raised in a relatively conservative immigrant family who came to Canada a…
All I did in my first year of university was lie to myself. I didn’t know what I wanted to do socially or academically, but I kept telling myself I did.
I was unsure of what I wanted to study, who…
This article discusses mental health and may be triggering for some readers. The Canadian Mental Health Association Crisis Line can be reached at 1-800-875-6213.
This article uses “Lesbian, Bisexu…
The most incredible aspect of living in residence is the opportunity to influence, and be influenced by, people you likely never would’ve met otherwise.
As I’ve often been told by my parents, advis…
Raechel Huizinga, Editor in Chief
This year, the Journal house was mostly empty.
190 University Ave., for me, had always been a hub of activity: layout room laughter, couch room banter, a pla…
Around this time three years ago, I was anxiously awaiting my acceptance to Queen’s Commerce. At the time, I had already been accepted to every other university I applied to, and I was terrified of…
Two years ago, in a small suburb outside of Glasgow, I had an evening I’ll never forget.
It was reading week, 2019, and a close friend and I were on the second day of our week-long trip around th…
I think it’s safe to say everyone has learned something new during the pandemic. Some people picked up knitting, others learned how to skate. What I gained this year, however, was something more si…
This piece mentions abortion and may be triggering for some readers. The Canadian Mental Health Association Crisis Line can be reached at 1-800-875-6213.
For a while now, I’ve been on the hunt …
When my five housemates and I met in October of our first year at Queen’s, all that connected us was a mutual friend, Amy. We were six young women thrown together, each from different religious bac…
I’ve found that white people are often more worried about being called racist than they are about actually being racist.
I’ve known white people who throw fits at the mere suggestion of being labe…
Back in 2018, I went out on a limb and accepted an offer to do my first year of undergrad at the Queen’s Bader International Study Centre (BISC), located in East Sussex, England, where students go …
I attended a competitive high school where I took AP classes, made honour roll every year, and graduated with awards—but competition wasn’t limited to academic achievement. My peers competed for th…
January is almost over, and as Journal readers know, the annual search for new student government and club executives is underway. As much as this time is about new beginnings, reflecting on the pa…
This article discusses depression, suicidal thinking, and sexual assault and may be triggering for some readers. The Canadian Mental Health Association Crisis Line can be reached at 1-800-875-6213….